Headline: New Zealand Parliamentarians connect with Commonwealth colleagues at a training seminar in Westminster

Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives

For immediate release: 14 November 2017

New Zealand Parliamentarians connect with Commonwealth colleagues at a training seminar in Westminster

Assistant Speaker Adrian Rurawhe MP and Andrew Bayly MP are in London this week participating in the 66th Westminster Seminar on Parliamentary Practice and Procedure. The seminar is an annual event run by the United Kingdom branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) at the historic Houses of the United Kingdom Parliament in Westminster, London.

The Speaker, Rt Hon Trevor Mallard, said “our Members of Parliament come from diverse backgrounds, with equally diverse skills and it can be incredibly challenging to enter the often adversarial nature of the House and get a handle on the complex, varied nature of the role of a Parliamentarian”.

The Westminster Seminar provides an effective training ground for MPs to enhance their procedural skills and flex their scrutiny muscles. It is an excellent opportunity for them to share best-practice with their Commonwealth counterparts, while addressing challenges faced by Parliaments in effectively representing a modern and diverse society”.

I am sure the New Zealand participants will return with an enhanced understanding of how to navigate our unique procedural environment to the advantage of the communities they serve in this House of the people” he said.

The five-day programme covers a range of topics from how to ensure Parliament routinely adapts its procedures to effectively represent a changing society to making informed decisions with evidenced based policy. A session on dealing with unexpected events, such as natural disasters, will give our participants an opportunity to discuss and compare the New Zealand Parliament’s response to several major earthquakes with similar case studies from around the world.